Copper-Infused Hospital Surfaces Halved Healthcare-Associated Infections: Study
Researchers have found in a 10-year study that replacing standard high-touch hospital surfaces with copper-infused materials reduced healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) by about 50%. Conducted at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, the study showed sustained reductions in infection rates after installing surfaces containing 16%–20% copper oxide. The findings suggest that copper-infused surfaces can be an effective, long-term infection control strategy, helping hospitals provide safer patient care by reducing the spread of harmful pathogens. The study was published in the American Journal of Infection Control by Marjory D. and colleagues.
In order to conduct a thorough analysis on the effect of passive contact-killing surfaces within an extended evolutionary period, researchers decided to implement an extensive longitudinal study that covered a 120-month time frame of January 2014 through December 2023. Clinical intervention included modification of the immediate clinical environment around hospitalised patients through the removal of regular plastic, laminate, and stainless-steel surfaces and installation of the new, specially designed polymer surface, which contained an active content of 16-20% copper oxide.
All patient admissions within the 10-year observational period were carefully followed and any emergence of acute HAIs was continuously recorded using predefined diagnostic criteria. In order to conduct the analysis on the actual effectiveness of such material alteration, statistical team implemented Bayesian hierarchical Poisson regression model that calculated the difference in the rate of monthly infections before and after implementation of the new materials.
Key findings:
- The comprehensive infection control assessment was performed on a huge infrastructure base including a total of 231,752 bed days of care (BDOC).
- Throughout the entire longitudinal study period of 120 months, the tracking physicians recorded 543 infections in total.
- Before the introduction of the intervention, the clinical baseline demonstrated a relatively high mean incidence rate of 27.6 HAI cases per 10,000 bed days of care.
- With the use of copper-oxide polymer resin, the infection rate dropped to a low mean incidence rate of 20.8 HAI per 10,000 bed days of care.
- The estimated incidence rate ratio for copper across all infections was 0.51 (95% credible interval, 0.25 to 0.95) using Bayesian hierarchical Poisson models.
In conclusion, according to the CuRE HAI study, the use of innovative copper components in the care setting will help reduce HAIs. It is possible that the consistent antimicrobial and anti-sporicidal action of the copper material can be partially responsible for reducing the number of HAIs. The impressive 10-year tracking statistics are an invaluable empirical base for designing hospitals of today, showing that the engineering of the environment can successfully intercept any pathogen prior to infecting a patient.
Reference:
Williams, M. D., Bridges, A., Coppin, J. D., Chatterjee, P., Choi, H., Navarathna, T., Bennett, M., Nelson, R. E., Brackens, E., Mayo, L., & Jinadatha, C. (2026). Copper (Cu) for Reducing Environmental Healthcare Associated Infections (CuRE HAI): A 10 Year Pragmatic Copper Surface Implementation Study. American Journal of Infection Control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2026.02.239
